A rival new series set in Basildon has made its release just days ahead of the second season launch of Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney's ‘Welcome to Wrexham’...but there's a catch.   

‘Welcome to Basildon’, a parody mini-series of the format made famous by the Hollywood stars, dropped on Sunday.  

Inspired by the widely acclaimed show, which followed Ryan and Rob as new owners of Wrexham, this new comedy series chronicles the escapades of ex-EastEnders stars Dean Gaffney and Shaun Williamson as they attempt to transform Basildon AFC into the next football sensation. 

However, the catch is...Basildon AFC are not a real football club (the series is not connected to Sunday League Team Basildon Athletic FC) and the soap stars haven't really bought the fake club.

The Irish bookmaker's new parody docu-style series follows management of "Basildon AFC" as they excitedly await the arrival of their mystery new “A-list owners”, suggesting it could be any number of big names from Ben Affleck to Sylvester Stallone.

However, when their potential buyers arrive in a Ford Focus, having first mistaken them for hand dryer salesmen, bosses quickly realise the 90s soap stars are the club's potential buyers.  

In the series Williamson, who famously played the part of Barry Evans in EastEnders, goes on to make a case for their interest: “Why do we want to buy Baildon? Because when we were riding high back in the 90s, we should have diversified, expanded our brand into different territories and income streams...and we want the club to do well.” 

Warming to the idea of Gaffney, who played Robbie Jackson, and Williamson rescuing the club, which is in the midst of a 14-loss run, it’s CEO tries to remain upbeat about the takeover: “They may not be Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney...but you can’t be spending your whole life wishing for something good.”  

The first episode of the three-part parody series made its debut on Paddy Power's social media yesterday with episode two set to drop tomorrow (September 12) followed by a third instalment on Thursday (September 14).

Speaking about the new series, a spokesman for Paddy Power revealed: “We paid Jamie Redknapp do a cameo and bless them, but I think Shaun and Dean found the Sky pundits appearance a little too convincing. 

“Williamson is either the finest method actor we’ve ever come across, or he’s a little confused. I heard him do a phone-in to TalkSPORT radio the other night, and he seemed to think Basildon is the real deal.”